Wayne Gretzky returns to his old stomping grounds to watch the current Edmonton Oilers young guns

Wayne Gretzky speaks to the media during a press conference during the Edmonton Oilers game against the New York Islanders at Rexall Place in Edmonton Alta., on Thursday March 6, 2014. David Bloom/Edmonton Sun/QMI Agency

The Hall of Famer and Edmonton Oilers great — in town for a private team function Friday morning — is enjoying life away from the game.

“I love coming here and have no stress or pressure and not having somebody asking me what’s wrong with my team,” Gretzky said between periods of the Oilers contest against the New York Islanders on Thursday. “I’m so happy to just stand here as a fan. I hurt for my friends because I want them to do well, they’re good people. But I have to tell you, I’m stress free.”

Gretzky has not been involved in the game since his days behind the Phoenix Coyotes bench. He’s a spectator now making special appearances and acting as a hockey ambassador. He'll be hosting his fantasy hockey camp this weekend in Las Vegas.

And although he’s only see a handful of Oilers games this season, Gretzky feels the team is in good hands with Craig MacTavish as general manager.

“In this day and age, just like every other era, winning is hard, it’s not an easy formula and you can’t just throw the best young players together and say you’re going to win a championship,” Gretzky said. “From my experience of being in hockey, from the years that I’ve been involved, when you get a guy like Craig, who I’ve played with, I’ve watched coach, I’ve watched him scout and now is the general manager, he has a lot of integrity, he knows the game and understands what it takes to bring a team together.

“So if you’re looking at it from that point of view, this is his first year and I have nothing but the utmost respect for him as a person, as a teammate and a friend.”

The Oilers have not made the playoffs since getting to Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup final. They will miss the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season this year, currently sitting 29th in the NHL standings.

“Nobody likes to lose,” Gretzky said. “People say that all the time, ‘What do you think is wrong with the Oilers?’ And I can’t give you an honest opinion because I’ve seen five game and it’s not fair for me to say they should do this or they should do that. They’re in good hands, Craig is a wonderful man. He cares and he wants to see this team be successful and I think he’ll make this team’s successful.”

Having won four Stanley Cups with the Oilers, then coming close to a fifth with the Los Angeles Kings, Gretzky can sympathize with fans in Edmonton. He’s a fan of the team himself and doesn’t like the current state they’re in.

“From my point of view as a friend, it hurts me too, because I have nothing but good things to say about everyone who’s still involved in this organization,” Gretzky said. “But we all understand as players and as athletes and as ex-players, this is what the fans are feeling, they want to win. This is a very proud city, it’s a storied franchise, although it’s still relatively young, there is a lot of history and people want to see it successful. This was sort of their coming out year after all their first picks. This was the year they were supposed to be in seventh or eighth spot, but after the bad start they got off to, then people started asking where they were going?

“But the people here, Kevin and Craig care and they hurt as much as the fans hurt. They want to win and I think Craig is going to be a tremendous general manager for this team.”

The hope for the organization is that the team is a contender by the time they move into the new downtown arena, which began construction this week.

Gretzky, for one, is going to miss Rexall Place, which was known as Northlands Coliseum back in his day.

“I love this building,” he said. “I have so many great memories here. To me when I grew up, I love the Olympia (in Detroit), Maple Leaf Gardens, and the Montreal Form. I think of Edmonton and this arena as a special place. But times have changed and we’re moving in a different direction, we’re going to have a new downtown arena and it’s going to be exciting for everyone and I’ll be one of those people that will miss this arena, this is pretty special.”

derek.vandiest@sunmedia.ca

twitter.com/SUNdvandiestThere is a lot more than 99 memories for Wayne Gretzky in the ol' barn. The leader of the Oiler dynasty was back at Rexall Place (i..e. the Coliseum) to watch the current versions of his old squad and their old Stanley Cup rival New York Islanders.

Wayne Gretzky returns to his old stomping grounds to watch the current Edmonton Oilers young guns

There is a lot more than 99 memories for Wayne Gretzky in the ol' barn. The leader of the Oiler dynasty was back at Rexall Place (i..e. the Coliseum) to watch the current versions of his old squad and their old Stanley Cup rival New York Islanders.